The present invention relates to a device for collection and storage of the free, non-active, portion of a strap of a manually operated cargo tightener which is used to secure cargo to be transported.
The typical prior art cargo tightener, which is modified to make the present invention, includes a shaft provided at one end of a connecting link or arm. The shaft is journaled in one end of the connecting arm, thus providing for rotatable attachment of a lever to the connecting arm. A first, or short, strap is firmly secured to a bolt or pin in the other end of the connecting arm, and has at its free end, a hook or other device for attachment to a vehicle transporting the cargo.
A second strap has a hook or other device at one of its ends. The hook is attached to the transportation vehicle. The other end, or free or non-active end, of the second strap is inserted through a slot in the rotatable shaft. A ratchet arrangement permits tightening of the strap by back and forth movement of the lever with respect to the connecting link. Because the connecting arm or link is held firmly in place by the first strap, the second strap tightens down over the cargo. The cargo tightener is conventional and, therefore, will not be described in any great detail except with regard to the modification of the lever to provide the strap collector portion of the present invention.
A common problem when using the above mentioned cargo tightener with tensioning straps concerns the handling of the free end of the strap not used when securing the cargo. This strap portion has to be thoroughly secured to the cargo in order not to flutter in the encountering wind, or to trail on the ground, both cases leading to a hasty soiling and wearing down of the strap. Further, a freely fluttering strap is a danger to traffic, particularly in connection with the 24 to 30 foot long straps used professionally by haulage contractors. Such a fluttering strap may injure nearby pedestrians when a cargo hauler passes by. Further, the trailing strap may get caught in the wheels if the cargo hauler is a truck. When this happens, the strap may wind around one or more wheels and put such a load on the prior art cargo tightener to cause it to break and release any load it may be tightened around. Thus, prior art cargo tighteners left many safety issues unresolved.
Many attempts to solve these problems are known in the prior art. US Patent Publication No. US 2004/0094650 A1 to Huang, shows a strap fastener system including a strap fastener for fastening a belt, and a winding device for winding the strap. The winding device includes a housing which is attached to a connecting arm portion of the typical prior art cargo tightener. A reel is put in the housing for winding the strap, and a torque spring is arranged between the reel and the control device for automatically rotating the reel in the non-rotational position of the control device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,520 to Soderstrom, shows a strap collector which is designed to be attached to the connecting arm of a standard cargo tightener. The strap collector includes a magazine for the protection and storage of the long tensioning strap of the cargo tightener when wound to the shaft of the strap collector.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,275 B1 to Lin, shows a strap tightener with an auto pulling device connected to a seat. The auto pulling device includes a housing and a reversing device. The reversing device is rotatably received in the housing. The housing would correspond to a connecting arm portion of a prior art cargo tightener.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,371 to Wyers, shows a strap tensioning and collection device having a variable length strap and a fixed length strap operatively associated with the strap storage section, and a strap tensioning section.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,721 to Smetz, et al. shows a device for connecting components to a belt.
German Offenlegungsschrift DE 36 39 712 A1 to Kinnert, shows a tensioning ratchet, in particular for belts, which is equipped with a ratchet body having a retaining bolt for fastening a safety belt, and having a ratchet lever which is mounted at the other end of the ratchet body so as to be rotatable about the axle of a slotted roller for fastening the end of a tensioning belt to be wound thereon.
All of the above devices perform generally satisfactorily but, in addition to the above-mentioned problems with a fluttering strap, share the aforementioned problem with the strap, as well as the problem of relatively high costs and difficulty of manufacture. In addition, they are rather bulky. Thus, those skilled in the art continued their search for a better cargo tightener and strap collector.